Day 52

The ship was definitely alive with the news that we had the tools and now better resources to apprehend the monster. The 14 new people quickly fell into the routine of the day to day hustle and bustle of getting things done. Now that the ship had a full set of fuses due to the fact that the Captain had organized a resupply mission while we were away, meant that it was business as usual. Not that I was looking forward to more laundry but it was certainly nice to know that we had more than enough fuses to light ship for many, many months to come.

I guess what most of you are waiting to hear about is the FBI Profile on the Unknown Subject referred to publicly as Double Dutch. It was extensive so bear with me as I wade through it to give you all the pertinent information. Thankfully, I can’t post the pictures because I really don’t think that you want to see those. They’re awful. All of those poor children that were forced to suffer for no good reason.

The file itself is pretty big but then who am I to judge? It included police reports, autopsy reports, photographs both from the crime scenes and the autopsies, witness statements and statements from family. Any and all information that pertained to the cases.

The total pairs of children taken (including those on the ship) totalled 18; 15 prior to the outbreak and 3 after. Before the outbreak all of the pairs of children had been siblings from middle to upper class families, taken in daylight right from under their parent’s noses. The abduction sites varied from playgrounds to the mall to the yard in front of the victims’ own house but the vicinity to the victims’ houses was always within 5 miles. They were hunted on home turf. With each abduction, the FBI hoped it was a kidnapping but there were no ransom calls demanding money.

The murder scene, while remote, always included a water element as the victims’ were always drowned. The autopsies showed no sexual assault, water in the lungs, and ligature marks confirming that they had been restrained during their period of brief captivity. No forensic evidence was ever collected from the bodies as the Unknown Subject (UnSub) was meticulous in their handling of them.

After the 4th set of children had been found in a small town pond, the Press had naturally begun to sensationalize the fact that the FBI had not caught the killer yet. It was unfortunate but they had eyes and ears everywhere. As the story goes, one news syndicate overheard two County Sheriff Department Officers talking and took their sound bite to the 6 o’clock news. Next anyone knew, there was one Officer stating “They should call this guy Double Dutch on account of the fact that he likes to do ‘em 2 at a time”. Since that day, everyone has referred to the UnSub as Double Dutch and there has been a calling card inscribed with the name Double Dutch left at each of the murder scenes. An actual calling card that would have likely been found back in the 19th Century when men called on women and such. Times when high etiquette ruled society.

The FBI Behavioural Analysis Unit classified Double Dutch as an organized UnSub. The crimes were planned and the UnSub had to have some level of social skills in order to get the children to come with them. The fact that no forensic evidence was left, even with the calling cards lead the FBI to believe that the UnSub was meticulous during the planning stages and left nothing to chance during the execution of the murders themselves.

As part of the profile, the BAU had to reconstruct the behavioural sequence of the modus operandi. Essentially reconstruct the method of committing the crime itself. The first task of the UnSub was to select the victims. The UnSub would have scoped out middle to upper class neighbourhoods looking for a family that fit his requirements: one that had 2 siblings. It didn’t matter the ages or sexes of the siblings just as long as there were 2 of them. The next task for the UnSub would be to learn the routine of his intended victims. They would need to determine when the best time to snatch their victims would be and what type of plan to put in place to make that happen. Luring was better than snatching because with two victims there was the chance that one could get away. Plus with luring, there was the chance that you could get away with no witnesses. After the plan was in place, the UnSub would then need to put the plan into action and not fail. Both siblings must be acquired together or else the need was not satisfied. The last task is essentially the most important for the UnSub. It’s the ritual, the culmination of the need to kill. Once that is satisfied, the bodies are disposed of and the cycle begins again.

One of the main things that seems to be important with these FBI profiles I’m learning is that they tend to have something called a signature. It’s identifiable from the crime scene and tends to more idiosyncratic than the modus operandi. It’s really what the UnSub does to satisfy his psychological need to commit the crime. The FBI determined that the signature of Double Dutch was that 2 victims from the same family were targeted and that both of those victims were drowned.

This next part was the profile that the FBI Behavioural Analysis Unit came up with after wading through the information collected from the 15 active cases they currently had:

Double Dutch was most likely male between the ages of 40 and 55 years old. He would be Caucasian but likely not born in the United States. His parents were both likely to still be alive but he had probably lost 2 siblings at a young age to an accident that involved water. He had most likely served in the military in his native country. He would respect rank and have likely achieved a middle level ranking himself before being honourably discharged. He respects authority and has a sense of duty to country. The UnSub would be highly educated but would have chosen a life of service over one in business affairs. He would continue his education wherever he could. His personality would be one that was highly functioning, charismatic, charming, friendly, authoritative, and meticulous. He would hold a position of high regard in whatever company he chose to work with. Among his more pleasant characteristics, he would hide the less inviting ones: the narcissistic tendencies, the ruthless and calculating moments, the cold-bloodedness, and the unpredictability when backed into a corner.

Yesterday was the first day that we really got a chance to look at the profile in-depth. Present in the room were Lt. Lafferty, her three officers: Detective O’Brien, Inspector Granger, and Officer Freemantle, Ben, Phillip, Captain Kanelstrand, Javier (the Captain’s First Mate) and myself. It wasn’t a large group but it seemed to dwarf the room we were in. As we poured over the documents and such in the file, I started asking questions to Javier. He knew most of the people on the ship and his observations could prove invaluable to us. When asked if he knew of anyone on the ship that fit the description from the profile his answer shocked us.

It was that moment that we realized that Captain Kanelstrand had disappeared from the room unnoticed.

It took us most of the next day to find him. He knew this ship better than anyone else and he could certainly keep moving through the maze of hallways always keeping ahead of us. It was by chance that we caught up with him. And trust me, he didn’t come quietly either. He chose to fight us tooth and nail for his freedom. Where did he think he was going to go? We knew he was the monster. It was time for him to face justice. But what justice was deserved in world full of the Undead. As a group, we are going to have to figure that out. I’ll let you know what we decide.